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Florida scores high — again — on a national tax study

States ahead of Florida in survey are far away.

Florida, no surprise, really, excelled on the latest comprehensive tax study from the Tax Foundation.

Overall, Florida ranked No. 4 in the foundation’s annual state business tax climate index. While the Top 10 of the 2019 edition is mostly unchanged from 2018, it remains notable that Florida is an island among the Southeast, really the entire South, in the Top 10. Its peers in having a business-friendly tax structure, according to a statement, include Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Utah and Nevada. The closest state in geography to Florida is No. 10, Indiana.

Taxed out

Top 10 states

1. Wyoming

2. Alaska

3. South Dakota

4. Florida

5. Montana

6. New Hampshire

7. Oregon

8. Utah

9. Nevada

10. Indiana

“The absence of a major tax is a common factor among many of the top 10,” states the report from the foundation, a nonprofit tax policy think tank. “Property taxes and unemployment insurance taxes are levied in every state, but there are several states that do without one or more of the major taxes: the corporate income tax, the individual income tax or the sales tax.”

Florida, of course, has no individual income tax. In other categories, Florida ranked No. 6 in corporate taxes; No. 22 in sales taxes; No. 11 in property taxes; and No. 2 in unemployment insurance taxes. On the unemployment insurance tax, Florida trails only Oklahoma. The Tax Foundation, according to the statement, analyzes the unemployment tax, a federal-state program, on systems that have low minimum and maximum rates; stay close to federal taxable levels; and don’t impose extra surcharges.